Golden Hour Photos at the Las Vegas Neon Museum

Want to snap some iconic Sin City signs at sunset? Best sign up.

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THAT SPECIAL MOMENT: Evening and early morning have a particular cachet in many parts of the world. There's the Green Flash in Hawaii -- the insta-second when the sun dips into the ocean -- and Ojai has its Pink Moment, when the mountains and sky and very air seem to pinken up with the declining daylight. And many people rise every day, and not just on special occasions, to witness the sunrise. Even Vegas has a magical slice of the day. Call it the very second the first marquee bulb begins to glow along the Strip, or the first neon tube flickers on.

BUT... there's a new way to celebrate and capture a specific and very beautiful time of day in Sin City. It's the Golden Hour Photo Tour at the Las Vegas Neon Museum. Yep, the Golden Hour is when the sun gets a little richer and all of the signage that fills the boneyard takes on a deeper color, hues that are nicely captured on film. Photographers love that time of day because the shadows are shadowier and the light is pure and luscious. The tour, though, isn't every day; the first one kicked off on Oct. 3, and future ones aren't yet planned. But if you want to definitely get on the next one, you'll want to get on the list first. (Isn't Vegas so often and so charmingly about "getting on the list"?) Best email phototours@neonmuseum.org to sign up.

AND... if you're not so much a "Vegas signs at sunset" photographer as a "ghost town at sunrise" shutterbug, take note: Bodie State Historic Park up near the Eastern Sierra has a similar photographer's event. It's on during the summer, and, yep, you can arrive early, very early, with your equipment, the better to capture dawn.